Who's There?
by ReeReeWithAngst
Summary: A knock at the door has Stan confronting a visitor from his past that he dare not remember, and finding peace when he finally lets her in.


**I wanted to play with the canon a little bit and I'm pretty happy how this went. I only tweaked Stan's marital history, for plot and all. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hey, Ford, look. We're in the paper."

"Swashbuckling brothers Stanford and Stanley Pines, uncover the abominations of the deep. That's a very long headline."

"And you read it wrong. It's Swashbuckling brothers Stanley and Stanford Pines, uncover the abominations of the deep. And it's great. We're finally claiming our rightful place with the great adventurers of old. Like Indiana Jones, and Han Solo."

"You know both of those are fictional, right?"

"What? You're full of it."

"No, I'm serious. Both of them are characters in popular movie franchises."

"I don't believe you."

"Both of them are played by Harrison Ford."

"You're kidding me."

"Nope."

"Huh. So the guy from Blade Runner...?"

"Also Harrison Ford."

"I knew it. So none of it's real?"

"No."

"Huh..." There was a knock at the door of their motel room.

"I'll get it."

Stan volunteered after a moment, as Ford studied his journal, plotting out their next adventure.

"Hello? What d'you want?" It was a young woman with brown hair and eyes that seemed familiar.

"I'm looking for my father. Stanley Pines." He only just stopped himself from slamming the door in her face. It all came back to him.

"Isn't he dead? Aren't there articles saying he's dead?"

"Well, there's this article saying that he's an adventurer." She held up the newspaper from earlier.

"Maybe it's a ghost."

"Can you help me or not?"

"Of course, sorry." He let her inside, his hands shaking."

"This is my simple yet loveably heroic brother Stanley, and I'm brilliant but arrogant Stanford. Stanley, this is your daughter. I didn't catch your name." He knew her name.

"My father should know my name." Stanford stood and looked at him.

"Yes, Stanley, what's her name?" His bluff was called. He sighed a little.

"It's nice to see you again Kara." She looked up at him, her eyes appearing a little wet.

"You were just going to shove me off on your brother?"

"You uh, shouldn't meet your heroes, kid."

"You're hardly my hero. You left when I was a baby."

"I didn't choose that, Kara. Your mother threw me out. She said I was good for nothing and would never be a good dad. I didn't get the chance to be in your life. Trust me when I say I wanted to." Stanley was about to tear up himself. Kara sighed and looked at him.

"I want to believe you... But first mom told me you were gone. Then she said dead... Is your whole life a lie?

"Not anymore, it isn't. I used to be good for nothing like your mother accused me of. Recently, I've had a change of heart. I might have been a sketchy person when your mom kicked me out, but I would have been as good a dad as possible." Ford was studying his niece with interest, subtly searching for an anomaly. Extra fingers, etcetera.

"So, you're Marilyn's daughter?"

"Who's Marilyn."

"My first ex-wife. We were married for exactly 6 hours and then divorced. Kara's mother is named Bethany. Right, Kara?"

"Yeah." Stan felt a little awkward.

"Do you want to sit down? Have a muffin?" He offered nervously, not familiar with how to be a dad.

"Uh..."

"What do you want to do? Catch, hugs, fishing, fireworks?" What did Mabel like again? Nieces seemed a whole lot easier to entertain than daughters. He was pretty sure he could entertain Mabel for seven hours just by giving her a hot glue gun. He'd never had to entertain his daughter before. At least not since she wasn't entertained by jangling keys.

"Well, I'm 35, dad, so catch might not be as fun. But I do have someone I want you to meet." It made him feel so odd, but good, to be called dad.

"Oh, okay." Ford discreetly began to put away some of their more volatile and potentially cursed loot. He didn't want jinxes on their hands.

"Alright, well, come with me." She went out to the motel parking lot and over to her rental car. He followed behind.

"Dad, this is Micah, your grandson." She said, pulling a toddler out of the backseat. Stanley's jaw dropped, as he stared at the little boy.

"He's adorable." Stanley cooed, looking at the little boy.

"You have a kid, I have a grandson..." He was stunned. Everything was happening so fast.

"This is insane."

"Do you want to hold him?"

"Y-yeah..." Stan reached out his arms.

"Micah this is your papaw, Stan. Can you say hi buddy?"

"Hi, Papaw..."

"How old is he?" Stan asked, almost breathless in wonder as he held the little boy.

"He just turned 3."

"It's so good to meet you, Micah..." Micah had brown hair and bright green eyes, and under a tuft of hair covering his forehead was a birthmark, in the shape of the constellation Orion.

"I have a nephew with the big dipper on his forehead," Stan remarked.

"Oh, that's cool. Maybe one day they'll meet."

"I think that Mabel and Dipper would love that," Stan affirmed with a smile, ruffling the little boy's hair. He was in awe of the little thing, who glanced around the parking lot with curiosity. It was a bit nippy so he suggested that they get Micah inside.

"So... How's your life these days?" He asked, now more than ever wanting to reconnect with his little girl and her little boy. He remembered her as an infant, and Micah was just as cute.

"Oh, it's good. I'm a writer, actually. I write a blog, have a few books out, and obviously, I'm taking care of this little guy. My husband's a pilot, so he's gone a lot, but it's good. We're good." Stan felt a twinge of guilt. Micah might be going through some of the same things Kara did.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there." He told his daughter, getting choked up.

"Down Papaw?" Micah asked, wanting to play on the floor.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Be careful bud." Stan let the precious little boy down on the floor, overwhelmed by all these emotions. It felt so good to have a family. He'd warmed up to that feeling with Dipper and Mabel, embraced it when Stan-O-War II was finally a reality. And now all the pieces were falling into place. Now he had the daughter he'd had to leave, and a grandson he already loved to bits.

"It's... It's okay dad. It was rough, growing up. Mom remarried, and he was alright, for a while. But it was a cycle, she'd find a guy, he'd be good enough, then not good enough, then gone. Then the next guy. It was like a revolving door of toxic relationships, and sometimes she'd get upset with me. I wanted you in my life, but I don't blame you for being gone. She could have married Prince Charming and gotten tired of him."

"I'm a little short of Prince Charming."

"I know. But I also know you would have tried. You really would have. Look at how you are with Micah. You're a good guy."

"Thanks for giving me a second chance Kara... I didn't deserve it."

"I just... I wanted Micah to know you. And I wanted to know you. I never want my little boy to doubt he has a family." Stan then did something that surprised himself. He pulled her into a hug.

"I love you, Kara. You're the best daughter anyone could have asked for." Ford was looking at Micah, showing him one of the harmless items they had plundered, and eying the birthmark, reminded of Dipper and how Dipper had refrained from being his assistant. Maybe this boy would grow up to be a great adventurer himself.

Stan slowly squatted to the ground.

"Hey Micah, want to play a game?" He was thinking uno, but it was never too soon to teach poker.

"Yeah! Let's be dragons!" Or... They could be dragons.

"Kara? Dragons?"

"Yeah, of course!" They played dragons for a few hours, Stan had never been that happy. His daughter, and his grandson, all playing and enjoying the time. They ate lunch together, and then they had to get back to their hotel. They were leaving in the morning.

"Thank you dad, I hope we can keep in touch, and I hope to see you again soon. Today was great." He hugged her, and then Micah.

"I'll make time, whenever. Any time. I'm serious. Call me whenever you need anything at all."

"Okay, I will." 

"Bye bye Micah... Papaw will see you soon." He promised, and he would keep that promise, no matter where he was in the world.

"Bye papaw..." Micah mumbled, yawning after a long day of being a dragon. They left and Stan stood there, just smiling.

"Hey, sixer, you ever have any kids?"

"Oh, none in this dimension."

 **The End.**


End file.
